Difference between revisions of "Bedistani Cup"

Revision as of 20:42, 19 July 2006

The Bedistani Cup is a usually annual football tournament in Bedistan, in which a number of professional clubs compete. It runs alongside the Bedistani football league system. It has existed in various formats throughout the years.

Format

Current format

The Bedistani Cup is a one-legged, ten-round knockout competition consisting of a total of 322 participants: 256 non-league clubs and the 86 clubs in the Fíbelige or higher (including the IAFL). In each round through the Seventh Round, if the match ends in a draw, it is replayed at the home ground of the opposing team. The replay will go to extra time and/or a penalty shootout if necessary to resolve a draw. The aggregate score of the two matches is not used. The quarterfinals and semifinals, on the other hand, do use a two-legged aggregate format. Note that at the end of the second match, if aggregate scores are equal, extra time will be played. Away goals are not used as a tiebreaker. The final is always contested on neutral ground at Fillmore National Stadium in Sonoma City and consists of a single match.

The non-league clubs enter the competition in the first round, while the league clubs all receive byes to the fourth round.

Historic formats

The Bedistani Cup was introduced in 2032. It began with a single-legged qualifying round consisting of 48 clubs, the top sixteen finishers in each of the BFA's three divisions. The 24 winners proceeded to the first round, where they were divided into eight groups of three. Each team played each other team in its group once, and the top two teams in each group (sixteen total) proceeded to the second round. From there, the tournament returned to a single-elimination knockout style. Originally, there was a third-place playoff between the semifinal losers. The tournament ran annually in this format through 2035.

League and cup play resumed in 2040, and the Bedistani Cup had received a new format. It became a simple seven-round single-elimination knockout competition for 128 clubs, but the third-place playoff still remained. The competition was suspended when the league was suspended again after the 2043 season, but it did not return when the league resumed operation in 2047.

The Bedistani Cup did return in 2050, but it had been shortened to six rounds involving only 64 clubs. Also, the third-place playoff was discontinued. After 2053, while the BFA continued running, the Cup was again suspended. It returned in 2057 with the same format, which it also used in 2058 before both the league and cup were suspended once more. Both returned in 2062, and the Bedistani Cup continued to use the same 64-club format, even after the BFA was dissolved in 2065 and replaced by the BPL and BFL. This continued through 2067.

In 2074, the Cup saw a radical change in format. It remained a single-elimination knockout, but clubs higher in the league system were allowed to bypass the first few rounds. The first round consisted of the twenty teams from the Fourth Division only. In the second round, twelve additional clubs from the Third Division were added to the mix. In the third round, the remaining eight Third Division clubs and eleven Second Division clubs were added. In the fourth round, the remaining nine Second Division clubs and ten First Division clubs were added. In the fifth round, the remaining ten First Division clubs and the bottom three Premier League clubs were added. Finally, the rest of the Premier League clubs entered the competition in the sixth round. This had the effect of giving Premier League clubs very large advantages in the Cup, which was highly unpopular among fans who wanted lower-league clubs to have a chance at glory. As a result, this setup was used only once.

In 2075, the cup returned to the 2040 128-team format, with the exception being the lack of a third-place playoff. Finally, in 2077, non-league clubs were admitted to the Cup for the first time, expanding the competition to 256 teams and requiring the addition of an eighth round. These teams were placed in leagues in 2078, but still competed in the Bedistani Cup. In 2089, the rules changed slightly: a match with a tied score after 90 minutes was now ended and replayed at the home ground of the opposing team. The replay would go to extra time or a penalty shootout if necessary.

In 2090, the format changed again to something of a hybrid of the 2074 and 2089 formats, expanding to 342 teams, with clubs higher in the league system starting their cup runs in later rounds.

Previous champions

* BFA rules governing penalty shootouts were different at the time, allowing for a 6-4 scoreline.